Johor bahru: Police have busted a drug trafficking syndicate that used vape cartridges to distribute drugs following the seizure of various types of drugs worth RM10.68 million in an operation across Johor on Aug 2.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Johor deputy police chief DCP Hoo Chuan Huat stated that the operation commenced at 11 am and was executed at five separate locations in Johor Bahru, Kulai, and Muar. This operation led to the arrest of five local men, one foreign man, and one foreign woman, aged between 36 and 46.

Hoo detailed that a local man and a foreign woman were apprehended during the initial raid at a petrol station in a rest and service area in Kulai. During a subsequent inspection of the Honda BR-V used by the suspects, police seized 9,000 vape cartridges containing methamphetamine liquid.

The second raid took place at a condominium in Medini, Iskandar Puteri, identified as a facility for packaging and filling vape cartridges. A foreign man was arrested, and authorities confiscated 47 plastic bottles of vape liquid, a glass bottle containing 127.55 litres of methamphetamine liquid, two plastic packets believed to contain cocaine, one plastic packet containing ketamine, and a vape liquid filling machine.

In a third raid at a house in Taman Sutera Utama, police arrested a local man and seized two plastic packets of heroin, 20 Erimin 5 pills, and 53 ecstasy pills. Hoo revealed that the fourth and fifth raids occurred in Mutiara Rini, Johor Bahru, and at a petrol station car park in Tanjung Agas, Muar, respectively. These operations resulted in the arrest of three local men, including the alleged mastermind, bringing the total amount of drugs seized in all five raids to 210.43 kilogrammes.

Each suspect arrested had a specific role in the syndicate, believed to have been operational since February. The syndicate reportedly used a condominium as a base for packaging and filling vape cartridges with drugs for local distribution.

Hoo further reported that urine tests indicated two of the arrested individuals tested positive for methamphetamine, and background checks uncovered that four had prior criminal and drug-related records. All seven suspects have been remanded for seven days from Aug 3, and the investigation is ongoing under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.